Once
by Nostalgic-Romance
Summary: Little Lawliet was raised by his sister, and hasn't seen her since he went with Watari. Page has undergone many hardships since giving up her little brother, and maybe they can catch a glimpse of eachother again-just Once. T for abues, sex, and swearing
1. The Birthday

Well, ignore the crappy please. There are many L back-story fics. I know.

Oh, and the story is completely POV of L's sister.

--

I walked purposefully down the London sidewalk, ever aware of the tiny hand in mine.

"Hey, Lawliet." I called my five year old brother's attention. "I want you to promise me something before we get into town."

"Hm? Okay." He replied.

"Promise me that this is our secret. We won't tell daddy about this, because you know how daddy get's mad."

The small boy nodded. "But you didn't say where we're going."

I smiled, my grip on his hand slipping for a fraction of a second before I smiled down at him. "We're gonna go get some cake."

"Because it's Halloween?" He asked, swinging his free hand. "I wanted to go trick or treating, but daddy won't let us."

"Lawliet, don't tell me you forgot your own birthday." A cold wind blew and I adjusted my scarf. It was an unusually cold day for late October in England. And while it was Halloween of 1984, it was also Lawliet's fifth birthday, and while it wouldn't be formally celebrated -nothing in our family had been since mom died- it was worth finding a café downtown to have a piece of cake.

"I didn't forget. I just thought we weren't gonna celebrate it. We didn't get cake for your birthday this year." I hadn't expected for him to forget. Even though I was ten, twice his age, and very mature for it, he often out smarted me. Before I had time to laugh, his little face became hopeful. "We could get two cakes!" He yelled. "One for 'Happy Birthday Lawliet', and one for 'Happy Birthday Page'!"

"I appreciate the thought, but let's just get one and split it so we don't have to take any home." We hadn't celebrated because after mom died, we were stuck with dad. He wasn't the nicest guy. He was honestly rather abusive to the point where I can't speak of it until today.

"Is that the cake shop?" Lawliet asked, pointing to a café.

"Yeah. Let's go." Excited as a five year old SHOULD be on his birthday, Lawliet dragged be towards the small building and burst through the doors and up to the counter. I smiled. "So what cake do you want?"

He stood on the tips of his toes, looking at all the pastries that sat among bagels and coffee machines behind the counter.

"I want the one with the strawberry!" He said, rather loudly.

"So you'd like a cake?" Smiled a waitress, noticing my brother, who was now jumping up and down.

"Yes, please." I handed her a small handful of change, and she handed me a plate with said slice of cake. "Thanks." I nodded to her, resisting the need to go into a full out bow, out of the habit inherited from our half-Japanese mother.

"Thank you!" Lawliet called, running towards an empty table near the back. He jumped on to the booth seat and began to tug at his gloves, getting them off his hands before I reached the table to help him with his heavy jacket.

The cake was gone mere minutes later. "All done?" I asked.

He nodded, smiling with cake on his face. I was subconsciously reminded that no matter how smart he was, he was still a first grader. Once he wiped the cake off his face, we went home.

--

We entered our house, the Lapinski residence, and Lawliet started up the stairs.

"I'm gonna make dinner, alright?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then." Lawliet finished his climb up the stairs, just as I heard the door open again.

"Yo." I cringed at the voice.

"Hi, dad." I managed. "How was your day?"

"Crappy." A typical response. "There are kids in costumes keep askin' me for change because they got some UNICEF box."

"That must suck." I took a deep breath and let it out. "It was Lawliet's birthday today."

"Really? How old is ee'?"

"Five." I replied. I began to boil some water to keep from having to look at my father when I talked to him.

"Tell 'im happy birthday for me."

"He's upstairs. You could tell him if you want."

"But I don't want." The slur in his voice became more and more distinct. It wasn't how he talked when he was sober, but really, he hadn't been sober in a while.

"Okay, I'll tell him when I'm done with dinner then." I stopped. I thought for a minute. I decided.

My little brother was five years old. He was smart, he knew what was happening, but he chose to believe it wasn't. I had to make him know it wasn't. I had to change things.

So with no reason not to, I made up my mind. "Dad, I really think you should stop drinking so much. Lawliet can't grow up being raised by his sister. I can't grow up raising myself. You need to get some help and be a father."

I turned to look at him as I said this. I bit the inside of my cheek, afraid of what would happen next.

I had good reason to be afraid.

I felt the sharp sting of dad's hand across the side of my face almost before the two made contact. "Ow…" I mumbled, placing my own hand on my cheek. Damn, just after the last bruise had healed.

"I am a father." Dad's face became more twisted than it had been. "You and Lawli-shit are just little brats."

"You aren't my dad, you never will be! You aren't to Lawliet, either-"

I had earned myself another firm slap in the face. Before I could even react to that one, I heard small foot steps. "What happened? Is daddy home?"

My eyes widened. "LAWLIET, STAY UPSTAIR-!"

With that I took my last blow of the fight. I hardly saw that one coming, only catching a glimpse of the translucent green bottle before it hit me on the head, and I fell down. The alcohol that poured out when the glass broke stung my eyes, as well as the minor cuts the glass gave my forehead.

"You're not his mother, Page."

Though my eyes were a little foggy from the alcohol, I still saw the small figure run up in front of me. "Daddy! What did you do that for?!" Said the same small voice.

I panicked and reached out to protect my little brother, but the kick came to fast, and Lawliet, being small for his age, flew right into the cabinet door. He sat dumbfounded for a moment, and then began to cry. I jumped up and ran towards him, pulling him by the hand up the stairs, and towards my room.

But I did hear another snide remark before I closed and locked the door.

"HAPPY FUCKN' BIRTHDAY!"

--

So here are the chapter names, in order (It's a short fic)

The Birthday

The Runaway

The Town

The Inventor

The Goodbye

The Life

Once

And get a tissue box, my friend!!


	2. The Runaway

Chapter two!! I'm kinda writing these in blocks…

So deal with it.

Thank you very much to my wonderful reviewers!

PS, If you read my fic Getting Over L, it may start getting a little emo because most of the chapters are things that really happened to me and I lost my dad last month.

--

"Shh." I hushed Lawliet, having just locked the door. I sat in front of him and wrapped my arms around his small shape. "It's alright… It'll be okay." I leaned back from the embrace and smiled at him, wiping tears from his eyes. "I promise this will never happen again. I'll fix if for you."

He sniffed a little before the tears stopped. "Promise?" I laughed.

"I never meant anything more in my life. In two days you won't even know daddy anymore. Now, let me look at your tummy, see if you're hurt."

Lawliet fussed for a moment, but managed to pull his oversized white sweater up. I poked at his stomach for a moment. "It doesn't look like you broke a rib or anything. You should be fine."

"But you cut your head, Page. You're bleeding." I gingerly touched my head and found that he was right. The pain had gone numb, but I still had to fix my head up. I slipped into the bathroom that connected my room and Lawliet's.

After washing and putting band-aids on my cuts, I pulled the glass out of my hair and brushed it, making a mental note to shower and wash out the stench of whisky after Lawliet fell asleep. I took a moment to look at myself in the mirror. I quietly backed into the wall and slid down so I was sitting with my legs held in front of me.

And I cried. I began to sob over what our family had become. I continued to cry even after Lawliet pushed his way into the bathroom and sat beside me. And when I eventually stopped, I gave Lawliet another hug, and we went into his bedroom.

It was considerably smaller than mine, but it had a small book shelf, because Lawliet could read from an early age. Then there was his bed, and a few other things. I quietly locked the door there too. I didn't want dad in here either.

"We're not going to school tomorrow, okay, Lawliet?" I said, still distracted by the thought of my own plan.

"Alright. I wanna go but if you're gonna make dad better then I can stay home."

"Lawliet?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not going to make dad better. I'm going to make dad go away." I bit my lip. "Tonight and tomorrow, while dad is at work, were going to get everything we need for a while, and leave and go away. Daddy is never going to hurt you again."

"But-"

"Lawliet you need to trust me, okay?"

Tension hung in the air for a moment. "Just get into bed, okay? I'll tuck you in."

Lawliet did as I said, and I went over and hugged him. "Y'know what?" He asked, as I was about to go look for a suitcase.

"Hm? What?"

"I know mom isn't here anymore, but you act like my mom." He said.

I smiled. "It's not like we have a dad." I closed the door to the bathroom and took that shower I said I would. It took three squirts of shampoo to get all the smell out of my hair and I still found some glass shards I hadn't found before.

Afterwards, I put on my PJs and went to bed.

But I couldn't sleep. I wasn't sure what had happened that night that just pushed me over the edge. Lawliet was right, I was being his mom, but I had no choice. We couldn't deal with what we had now, so we would deal with the streets if we had to. And we had to.

I got up after only a few hours and walked over to my desk, and sat in front of it. I rubbed my hands on my face, and looked down at my desk, as tidy as ever. I pulled a pen out of the left hand drawer, and reached for a note book, flipping open to a blank page of lined paper. Carefully, I ripped it neatly from the book, and put the notebook back where it had been.

Leaning over the paper, my hand hesitated, the pen tip hovering just above the sheet. I swallowed, took a few shaky breaths and wrote.

_Dear Mr. Lapinski,_

_You may have been expecting me to address you as 'dad,' or, 'father,' but unfortunately, that doesn't fit your description anymore. I am writing this note to leave for you so that you may further understand the situation. _

_Lawliet Lapinski and I have decided that it is beneficial for both of us and you if you and we no longer lived under the same roof, and as such, we are leaving. Thank you for your 'hospitality' for these years you have taken care of us._

_Please, do not come looking for us. We don't want anything from you after the date of November first, 1984. We will take many of our belongings with us when we leave, as well as money. Feel free to do what you wish with anything we leave behind. _

_I thank you again, Mr. Lapinski. Goodbye._

_-Page Lapinski,_

_Lawliet Lapinski._

_PS, Since you are likely drunk as you read this, I'll sum it up. We're sick of you and we're leaving. Thanks for nothing._

I pulled an envelope out of my small box of stationary, the best envelope I could find, and I folded the letter, as carefully as I had ripped the paper, and tucked it inside. I sealed it with so much caution it was infuriating, but I had to if I wanted to do anything right: my hands were shaking.

After writing plainly _Mr. Edmond Lapinski_, I placed the pen back where I found it. Slowly, I slouched over the desk, and buried by face in my arms. I was tired and falling asleep, finally.

I didn't bother to move. No, I was too tired. I fell asleep at my desk, and had pleasant dream and horrible night mares about the future.

--

The first thing I remember of the next morning was something tugging sharply on my night shirt. Sitting up straight, I rubbed one eye and looked at the familiar child.

"Good morning, Lawliet." I said.

"Why didn't you sleep in your bed?" He asked. "Were you writing something?"

"Yeah… I was writing a letter to daddy. Speaking of which, is he still home?"

"No, he left a few minutes ago."

"Then go get a duffel bag and back only three sets of clothes, alright? Then pack your toothbrush and a soap bar, and a hair brush and things like that." I instructed.

Lawliet nodded. "Okay." Then he ran off. I followed my own instructions and gathered together some good, warm clothes and toiletries. I then went for every secret money stash I kept, tossing it into a small purse. I went over to Lawliet's room.

"You all packed?"

"Yup. Do you have your stuff?"

I nodded, putting my clothes in the bag. "Now, I need you to go and get the money pot on the kitchen counter, alright?" I received another nod and Lawliet ran out of the room.

I followed suit, but instead broke into dad's room, quickly grabbing a large blanket and an umbrella. I then searched for several minutes, and found several hundred dollars in money for booze in a small box in his drawer. I emptied it into the purse.

I slipped out again, closing the door softly. When I got back to Lawliet's room, he was sitting solemnly on the bed, beside the duffel bag.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

"We can never come home, can we?" He replied. I froze. "We can't even see daddy. And we have to work, or live outside now."

I hesitated before answering. "Not forever, just for a little bit, then we'll get an apartment. And we can grow up really happy, and I'll send you to University. Everything is gonna be just fine."

"Then I can get a job and take care of you?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah." I laughed. "But I won't bother you. I'll find a husband and we can all be happy."

I hated it. I hated lying to him. He was a little genius, but he was too gullible. It kinda hurt. But I got over it-It was time to leave.

I zipped up the duffel bag and tossed it over my shoulder.

"Come on, Lawliet. We gotta leave. Get the note off my desk and bring it downstairs." I grabbed the bag and started through the hallway. Half-way down the stairs I heard Lawliet's foot steps behind me. "You found it?" I called back.

"Yeah. Should I put it on the kitchen table?"

"Smart. Yeah, put it there. I'll wait for you out front."

I ran quickly out of the house to wait by the front door. I had left Lawliet alone for the reason that he would be upset to leave. I gave him a moment before we left. I wanted to give him a change to say good bye to the life he'd know, with its good and it's bad. The only life he had ever known.

I let my eyes drift freely across the street and around the house. And when my eyes fell on one figure across the street, my heart sunk. I began to panic and ran into the house. Because of all the things I had planned for, I hadn't planned on my father showing up.

Running through the kitchen, I grabbed the note off the table and almost ran right into Lawliet. I grabbed his hand and pulled him through the house to the laundry room.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled.

"Shh." I hushed. "He's back."

"Who?"

"Dad."

The tension only worsened when silence hung over the room. I heard the sound of the door and then a colorful stream of curse words. I instinctively covered Lawliet's ears. I, on the other hand, listened carefully.

"MOTHERFUCKER!! I CAN"T BE-FRICKEN-LEAVE IT! THEY CAN"T JUST FIRE ME THOSE SONS OF BITCHES!!"

So he got fired. About time. That means that we should get out soon, and we can't get out that way.

"Lawliet, I'm gonna help you up to the window, alright?" I whispered.

I got another nod, and lifted my little brother to the windowsill, were he quickly got out of the house.

"Good." I said, before climbing on the dryer to jump out the same window. I sighed. "Ready to leave?"

Lawliet almost mimicked my sigh and bitter-sweet expression before replying. "Yeah."

He held out his hand. I took it in mine, and we walked quickly out to the end of the street and around the corner, headed straight for the train station and our true goal of Winchester.

But I could imagine what happened later that day.

Dad would walk, for whatever reason, into the Laundry room, and find an envelope, hastily tossed to the floor. He would read it, then his swearing would get worse. Then at least, he wouldn't have to see us anymore.

--

Not as good as the last one, but the waterworks come next chapter. WITH A TIME SKIP :D

Anyway, thanks to you all for reviewing. See ya next chapter!


	3. The Town

Third chapter, big accomplishment

Third chapter, big accomplishment. I wrote the first chapter yesterday!!

So get your tissues, my friends!!

(#0#) scene break

-- mini story break

--

We did make it to Winchester. Thank god. It took a while to find our footing there, but we were fine within a month. The hardest part was adjusting to living on the streets. It was cold at night. That made a problem.

But the good part was, if I left Lawliet with a used coffee cup, we got tons of change. It made life a little easier. But Lawliet and, I admit, even I was often upset over everything. It was better than it was. I would admit to that, but the fact made it all the sadder.

To start telling the tale of life on the streets, we should start from the start. The day we got off the train, we walked into the downtown. Wandering the bustling streets, I told Lawliet the next step.

"Alright, we need to find somewhere that you don't mind sitting for a long time. That way we will have I temporary home."

Lawliet thought quietly for a moment, and then pointed to a small sheltered area in front of a large music store. It looked warm. I liked it.

"Good choice!" He beamed with pride, and smiled up at me.

We wandered across the cross-walk, and walked right towards the music store. I stood looking at it for a moment. I smiled and nodded my head in silent approval. I crouched down, placing the bag on the ground. I pulled out the blanket I had stolen from my dad and spread it out on the ground.

"Is this where we're gonna stay?" Lawliet wined.

"Yes, we don't have enough to rent an apartment right off the bat." I replied.

"Hm…" Lawliet studied the area, and I looked on, doing the same. The ground looked hard, cold, and open. Not the best. "We absolutely can't do anything else?"

"No. But how about instead of complain, we settle into this thing?"

I didn't wait for an answer, but just went and sat near the corner of the large blanket.

"Next question." I continued. "Should we ask for money?"

"You brought some money." Lawliet said. "We don't need any." He sighed before coming to sit by me. This was out new home.

--

Only two months later, we had our first major encounter with home-sickness. Unfortunately, it was also our first encounter with something else.

I was looking through CDs at the music store, one of the things we did for fun now. I passed a few Queen CDs and it almost hurt that I couldn't afford or use it. Queen was one of my favorite bands.

Sighing, I went towards the doors and home, but lingered just inside the door, reluctant to leave the heated building. It struck me then that it was December 24th. Bracing myself against the cold, I walked out and sat beside Lawliet.

"Tomorrow is Christmas." I stated plainly. "Want to go steal something from a garden to use for a tree?"

"I would." He replied. "But Father Christmas won't bring anything for us."

"Don't be silly!" I shouted, attracting unwanted attention. "Father Christmas brings something for everyone." I made a mental note to spare some cash to go buy Lawliet something before tomorrow.

He remained silent for a moment.

"I miss home." He said.

I sighed. "You miss being beaten and neglected?"

"Stop being mean!" He shouted back at me. "I miss not sleeping outside! I miss eating warm meals! I'm sick of this! Take me home!"

"Are you STUPID!? We can't go home! You know that!" I yelled, not paying attention to those staring. "He'll KILL YOU if you go home! LITERALLY!"

Pissed, Lawliet stood up. I could no longer see his eyes, hidden behind his bangs. "I don't care." He said. "I'm going home." He walked off towards the near by train station.

"Fine, go. You take after dad anyway." I muttered.

It took me several minutes to let the anger wear off. After that, I let the conversation sink in.

"Oh shit, he's going back to London." I murmured quietly.

I stood up and ran with all my might towards the train station. He couldn't go back to London. He would get lost and if dad ever found him, he really WOULD kill him. Dad was a cruel man. I couldn't let Lawliet get on any train…

And thank goodness for me, I saw a short tuff of messy black hair near the door.

"Lawliet!" I called. "Get back here!"

He turned his head, and stayed put for a moment, but eventually wandered towards me.

The minute he was close enough, I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around him. I squeezed.

"Stop it. You said 'fine, go.'" He muttured.

"I was mad, Lawliet. I can't let you go. Your just a kid. There is no way you could find your way home. Even if you did, you couldn't fight off dad."

"Well…"

"I promise, we'll get an apartment. We can beg for the money if we need too."

"By the way, you're a kid too. You're only eleven."

"I'm ten Lawliet." He replied with a laugh.

"You forgot your own birthday! On the 13 of November!"

"Let's go you little jerk." I backed up and stood up, taking his hand and walking towards the music store.

The walk was long and silent, but pleasant. But when we got to the street, to the store, I began to shake. Lawliet noticed. Lawliet knew.

All of our things were gone. Someone had taken them. We had no more clothes, food, warmth, and most importantly, money. We had a few hundred dollars left, and it was gone.

I sat in the empty space and stared blankly at the street, my eyes seeping tears.

"I went after you… and someone took our things…"

Lawliet stared in disbelief. "What…? I-I'm… sorry. It's my fault." He began to sob as well.

"No, Lawliet." I interrupted. He looked up at me. "I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" He asked, wiping his face in his sleeve.

"Father Christmas isn't coming this year."

--

Of all the horrible things that happened while we lived in front of that store, but the most horrific thing that happened to me, never happened to Lawliet. He likely never knew what happened.

In July of 1987, after more than three years on the street, I was thirteen, and Lawliet was eight. We had shortly before moved from in front of the music store to an area behind a small shop. It was better for the summer because it provided much needed shade.

We were happy.

We lived in the back, and pan-handled in the front. I mostly left Lawliet with a coffee cup, and people took pity on an eight year old boy who couldn't afford to eat, but I also often sat with him and when the cup was full of change, I added it to the bag of money in our living space.

So, one day, a rather warm day, I sat half-asleep beside Lawliet watching the used coffee cup fill with change and small bills. It was a slow day, but a comfortable one. People were also being generous. We could probably eat out that night.

I felt Lawliet's head on my shoulder, and I could tell that I wasn't the only one feeling sleepy in this heat. It didn't take long for him to be fully asleep. And I was fading quickly.

I hadn't slept the night before. There was something going on and a lot of people means more noise. So I inevitably found myself dreaming of a bright ocean within the next half-hour.

It was when I woke from that that I began to swear.

"Shit… somebody took our change." I complained.

Lawliet sat up and yawned. "Who took our what?"

"We need another coffee cup. You got one?"

Lawliet nodded quietly and dug though a bag he carried, finding another empty paper cup. "It's getting dark." He mumbled.

"Yeah… you can to take a nap or something. I'll stay here and we can go by dinner when this cup's full."

Lawliet agreed. He ran through the small alley, and went to sleep.

Another hour later, it was dark, the street brightened by the street lights above. I bid thank you to a woman who threw a pound into the cup. I decided it was full and picked it up, tucked my mat under my arm, and began towards the alleyway.

This alleyway, it was rather dark, but it protected us. It made two turns because of the odd shape of the buildings on either side. It had a comfortable silence about it.

As I began the walk, I heard a few foot steps behind me, and chose to ignore them. When I rounded the first corner, they continued to follow me. I turned to face my pursuer, to find a man of about 40 standing in the alley.

"Hey kid!" He called. "How old are you?"

I was a little off set by the question, but answered anyway. "I'm thirteen, sir."

"You don't have a home, you need some money, right?"

"Um, no and yes. But I'm doing alright. I actually have to go get my brother so-" I stopped.

The man was walking towards me. I freaked out a little, but stayed calm.

"I asked if you needed money."

"I-I do, did you want to give me some extra change or something? It would really be appreciated."

"Small change?" He laughed. "Small change isn't gonna do you any good in the long run. I have some friends I can introduce you too. Some jobs I can get you to do. A few hundred dollars."

"Are… are you asking me what I think your asking me?" I was shocked and disgusted. I turned to leave. "Sorry, but I have too much self respect. I'll stay on the street thanks."

I kept walking but stopped when the man grabbed my wrist. "Please?" He asked, as I tried to pull my arm from his grasp. "You're a pretty young lady. You'll make lots of friends, and lots of money. You could feed and clothe yourself and your brother. And live in a house!"

"I said, no… Thank-!" I stopped as I was pinned to the wall. My cup full of change fell to the ground, making clinking sounds as each coin hit the ground. "Let me go!" I yelled. As a last resort, I swung my leg around and tried to kick the man.

Keyword: TRIED.

(#0#)

I shook slightly as I wandered towards Lawliet, sitting beside him and putting my arm over him. I felt him wake up as I pressed myself against him.

"Time for dinner?" He asked innocently.

"I'm sorry, Lawliet." I said into his ear.

"What happened?" I didn't respond, as by then I had fallen asleep.

--

I think that's just horrible. But it happens in real life.

Okay, maybe not cry-worthy, but whatever.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, The Inventor!


	4. The Inventor

Hey guys. What's up with you?

SO… in this chapter we meet our good friend, the evil provider of sweets, Mr. Wammy!! Whom L's older sister distrusts? Gasp.

I have a horrid canker sore. It's right under my tongue, too. I just try to keep drinking water. It should come out soon.

I also love the band Bowling for Soup. I heard a few of their songs in AMVs and I'm IN LOVE with 1985. I listen to most of the bands in that song… even Blondie. And I LOVE U2!! WHOOOOOOO!!

But this was written mostly listening to Creep by Radiohead.

Oh, and if anyone wanted to know, there will likely be three (maybe two… I'm having trouble with Mello) companion fics for this one. They will all be Wammy House back stories. Matt is a druggie, Mello is a Jesus-freak, and Near is a rich kid who randomly got kidnapped XD. Yes, my mind comes up with these depressing situations.

And also, my power keeps going out temporarily. This summer is messed up weather-wise.

On with the chapter!

--

Since the incident in July, I had gained a general distrust of those around us. Not just men, not just adults, although those two groups of people did put me on edge. I was wary of everyone who stopped to talk, or paused to stare, even in disgust, at two street kids.

Speaking of those staring in disgust, the number had been increasing. Lawliet, being small for his age, and myself, looking old for my age, had offset many people. The truth was, by a quick glance, it was easy for us to be seen as a teenage mother and her fatherless son. It was, really, rather embarrassing to have a young woman come up and say she was 'in the same boat' as I was, and leaving a good fifteen pounds in the coffee cup before leaving with their child.

That, among other things, also lead us to another rather drastic decision, and we cut down on pan-handling. We started stealing, but not a lot, and only things we really needed. Clothing was one thing. It was hard to afford clothes, so we used to go a day or two without food if we needed new clothes. So fall was a hunger season.

And over the next year, we really stopped focusing on surviving. We were having an easier time, and also learning about what was around us. We found a few easy-to-break-in-to houses, and met several people who worked and lived in the area. This included a few concerned citizens caring for the homeless, and business men emptying change from their pockets.

The most curious thing that we had seen this whole time was, without a doubt, the elderly man who stopped by more-and-more often to talk to us. Being both a man and an adult made me incredibly nervous, and that nervousness what not in the least dulled by the fact that he mostly talked to Lawliet.

He wasn't the kind of person to take interest in any street rats, either. He was well dressed, and as far as I had seen, he drove a Rolls Royce. Or was driven in. It didn't matter. The point was he was stinking rich.

And when I woke up one crisp morning in May, I was surprised to see that Lawliet was not with me behind the shop. And I immediately worried.

I stood up, not taking even a moment to enjoy the nice morning, and pulled a stolen hoody around my shoulders. I craned my head in all odd directions to see if Lawliet was still behind the building, but besides the dumpsters, the concrete area remained vacant.

I slipped around the two corners that still gave me an eerie feeling. I shuddered, a luxury I didn't allow myself when my brother was with me. I broke into the light and noise of the busy street, and blinked a few times at the early morning rush hour, then looked around.

I found who I was looking for several meters away, sitting in his usually odd position, talking to… great. It was the rich guy.

Lawliet had likely gone out to sit with his coffee cup for a while, and that guy happened to drop by. I kinda wished he hadn't.

I wandered up towards them, and rubbed an eye quickly before shoving my hands in the pockets of my cheap jeans.

"Morning, Lawliet." I yawned, attempting to force back any signs that I was still half asleep.

"Oh, hello!" He grinned. "I'm happy you're up. I was talking to Mr. Wammy!"

I sighed. "That's nice, Lawliet, but Mr. Wammy is probably very busy, so let's go get some breakfast, alright?"

Before Lawliet could reply, Mr. Wammy, as we knew him (and I did believe it was a fake name. No body had a name like that) stepped in.

"It's quite alright." He said. "I'm not really busy at all. If you would like, I could buy you both breakfast."

"That's fine." I smiled, try to be as inconspicuous as possible as I tried to grab Lawliet's arm. "We'll be fine. We really wouldn't want to be a bother."

Mr. Wammy looked surprised. "I insist. Besides, I have something I would like to talk to both of you about."

Uh oh, where had I heard that before? Or was I just being paranoid? Before either of us had time to think, he turned and began to walk off. Confused, I decided to at least hear the man out, and followed him.

As we walked, I heard the usual chatter of people talking to each other, talking about, maybe, the homeless kids walking by.

"Weird." One might say. "Do you think their related to that older guy?"

"No, they don't look it." Another would reply.

"Ew, grubbies." A teenage girl would mutter. "I mean really, did she get that outfit from a trash can?"

It was comments like that that made me laugh inwardly. _Actually, bitch, I did get it from a trash can. Got a problem with that?_ It was really a hobby of mine, listening to people on the street. But I had little time for it, as I soon found the café we were going to eat at wasn't that far from the shop.

As Lawliet and I crashed into the booth seats, I closed my eyes and smiled. Ah, the soft seat cushions. I missed furniture.

After we got our food, I slowly released my vice-grip on Lawliet's arm, allowing myself to relax slightly. I soon forgot about any worries I had before, and completely lost myself in the idea of a nice, warm, real meal.

"So I wanted to talk to both of you about something." Mr. Wammy began, and I quickly became tense again. "I have been working for some time on the concept of an orphanage for gifted children, and I had been thinking that Lawliet is, indeed, quite bright.

"So I thought that maybe Lawliet may consider joining."

At that moment, time seemed to slow down ever so slightly. Lawliet? An orphanage? It wasn't something I could imagine.

"Well, that's-" I began.

"He would be provided with a full education, including all the grades he has missed, and I do believe he has potential to become a great figure of authority someday."

It was silent for a very long moment. "Lawliet?" I asked.

"Hm?" The small boy looked up from his food.

"This is a hard thing to think about. What do you want to do?"

He thought about it for several minutes, and abnormally long time for him. "I want to go to school again, but I want to stay with you, too."

I sighed, pushing my hair out of my face. "Is there anything else, in particular?"

Mr. Wammy hesitated, as if I had asked just the wrong question. Something he didn't want to admit. "We would have to completely erase his past. Burn any photos, birth certificates, anything with his name or photo. And he wouldn't be able to see anyone he may have known again."

I stood up quickly, trying to hide the anger in my voice. "I really don't know," I said. "We really have to think about it. It's not my decision, its Lawliet's too." I wrapped my fingers around his hand and tugged him towards the door. "Thank you very much for breakfast." I quickly said before walking quickly out the door.

(#0#)

It was maybe three days later that Lawliet and I were sitting in the normal place, not doing much of anything, when I brought up the topic again.

"Lawliet." I said. "Do you want to go with Mr. Wammy?"

"Do you want me to go?" He asked me.

"I don't know what I want. I don't want to never see you again, but I don't want your brain to go to waste." I sighed. "It's really hard."

"I know…" Lawliet replied. "But I think I want to go."

My heart hurt. For a split-second, I rejected the thought, but quickly accepted the truth.

"Okay." I said, the smallest tear falling down my cheek. "I'll miss you, Lawliet."

"I'll find you again someday, right?" He asked. "At least once. We'll see each other again, Okay?"

I smiled. "Yeah."

It was only another week before we ran into Mr. Wammy again, and with all of the things Lawliet owned stuffed into a small bag, we sat out on our mat, staring out at the traffic, waiting for the car that would take Lawliet to this new orphanage, and away from me.

I had made a few calls from a pay phone, and it turns out our father burned down our whole house. Everything was lost, himself included. Lawliet barely existed anymore.

So we sat, almost silently.

"So…" I said. "This is the last time a used coffee cup does you any good, huh?"

He nodded solemnly.

"You're gonna work hard to make up for the years of school you missed, right?"

I received the same head bob. My eyes remained unfocused, and the street was unusually quiet today. "Gonna make me proud?"

"Yeah." He said, finally responding vocally.

As if on cue, the familiar Rolls Royce pulled up on the side walk. The door opened and Mr. Wammy stepped out of the flawless black car. Lawliet stood up, and I grabbed his bag of stuff. The small bag, unfortunately, carried everything he owned.

I handed the bag to my ten year old brother, and knelt down so I wasn't looking down at him. I placed my hands firmly on his shoulders.

"You're going to work hard, okay?"

"Okay." He replied.

"And you aren't going to forget me, alright?"

"Mmhm."

It was silent for another moment, before Lawliet's eyes began to bulge up with tears. "I'm gonna really miss you." He sobbed.

"I know," I said, pulling him into a hug. "I'm gonna miss you too."

"You-you aren't gonna forget about me, either, right, Page?" He cried into my shoulder.

"No, I promise." Tears slid down my face as well. We both cried for several minutes, until Mr. Wammy coughed, bringing our attention to the fact that Lawliet did have to leave.

I took one long, shaky breath before finishing up. "Be good, okay?"

"Yeah." He said. "I'm gonna miss you, Page."

"I'll miss you too." I replied, leaning away from him, and letting go. I let go of him physically, and prepared to let go forever. "Goodbye, Lawliet."

"Goodbye." He said.

And with that, my brother got into the car, and left. He left the side-walk that day, he left the life on the street, and worst of all, Lawliet left my life, for good.


	5. The Life

Sorry for the long update time last chapter

Sorry for the long update time last chapter. Stuff came up. But I wrote that whole chapter (the best one yet, except maybe the first) in a single night.

I also have ANOTHER funeral to go to. My LAST grandparent (Grampa Bob) died days short of a month after my father. It's quite sad, but I didn't know him much. And it's really best that Dad didn't live to have to go to the funeral. He was dad's step father, but his real father was an ass. Most people online think I'm shitting them this summer. But yes, I am thirteen, and yes, I am dealing with the death of my father.

I was talking to my horse today (okay, not my horse, but the horse I ride when I go down to the stable) and BlueBell has a murderous plot to kill one of the riding instructors!

I never knew… Tsktsk, Bluebi. I didn't think you had it in you to eat her.

It's really hard to type the word rape for some reason… but recently my mom got me a new watch (the old one was a leather astro boy watch, it was pretty darn cool. I still use it, but it's out of batteries and I need to get it a new one...)! It goes underwater... and I can type while wearing! Wait untill writing is your biggest obsession, then you'll get it... I can't type wearing most watches. Mary understands!

Oh, also, the chapter The Goodbye was pushed into The Inventor, so you guys don't get it. Sorry!

I woke rather late the next morning. It took me several minutes to register the events of past days. I was hurt. I was exhausted. I was really, really, pissed.

I hated to compare myself to the pig, but I had to say, like father, like daughter. I had a hard time with my temper. Once I had finished collecting my thoughts last night, I ran out into the town, searching stupidly and hopelessly for Mr. Wammy and my brother. I had begun to regret letting him go. I wanted him back. I wanted to protect him, to make sure he was always okay…

But the chance was gone. He had left. My brother, and my sanity, had left me behind.

It was true, he kept me sane. I had been his sister, his role model, and I held it together since mom died to show him something strong in the weak, changing world we lived in. I had only cried in front of Lawliet twice-the day before we left London, and yesterday, when he left. Every time we were cheated, made fun of, sneered at, beaten by our father or others, and even the time I was raped, I never once cried in front of my brother.

And now I was about to begin slowly losing my mind. Dammit.

I slowly stood up, and began down the list of things to figure the hell out. First, I brushed out my hair and put on a new change of clothes. Then, I went through my stuff and changed my entire life to fit just one person. That was the hard part. Lawliet had left a few things. Clothes, mostly, were all that remained, and they weren't anything I could really send to a pawn shop.

Dirty, ripped, and over-all nasty, they barely made good use as dish rags. I managed, however, to cut out a few patches, keeping them with me, so I could sew them on to a shirt later. I tossed the rest out.

I was then finished with my short to-do list. I wandered out to the street, looking only at my feet. I turned the corner, letting myself fall quickly to the sidewalk to wait patiently with my coffee cup.

It took me not only that night, but the next several weeks to find my thoughts and emotions. I scrapped them together with tears and hunger, and by August, I had lost an unhealthy amount of weight.

Honest to god skin and bone, and I still refused to even talk to anyone. I had problems with other people. I could give you hundreds of examples, but all I can say is that I beat myself up over every decision I ever made for the next five years.

Dropping out of school in grade five never sets you up for a good life.

(#0#)

September 6th, 1988. Not a good day. I had wandered to the local mall to find a Salvation Army something and get some more change in a better area then the cold, hard concrete. That wasn't the best idea.

You see, I was happily and comfortably seated next to a potted plant on the cool tile, when a few of your average run-of-the-mill group of bitches happened to be shopping in the area. Even with my skillful camouflage in the plant, they managed to spot me.

"Ew," said one, who was dressed all in pink, "She's disgusting."

"Yeah," another replied. "You think she has a mental issue?"

"Shut up, she's probably high," laughed a blonde.

"Let's go," the pink one sneered. "We wouldn't want to get TB or something."

I looked up from my seat, glaring at the group. "I don't have any issues, I'm not high, and I'm perfectly healthy. How about you? How many STDs do you three have?"

They stopped. A few shoppers around us did, too. "Did you just call us whores?"

"No." I smirked. "But that doesn't mean I wasn't pretty sure you were."

I looked back down, twisting an elastic band in my fingers. I was prepared for them to just ignore me, make a snide comment, and move on, but I had been wrong.

"Look, _bitch,_" the blond, their leader, said, "if anyone here is a whore, it's likely the one I'm looking at. The one that needs cash for her drug dealer, because my bet is, mommy and daddy kicked the little crack-head out of the house."

I stood up, not in the least intimidated by the group of shoppers gathered to watch.

"If you would excuse me, my 'mommy'"--I used air quotations for effect-- "died when I was nine, and the last time I saw 'daddy', he was fall down drunk and smashed a whisky bottle over my head, so I left home with my brother to protect our lives. Your 'daddy' pays for your plastic surgery. Your 'daddy' pays for the condoms your little boyfriends do or don't use. Your 'daddy' doesn't ignore your existence until it's convenient, and your 'daddy' is stupid enough to let you become this slut who picks on the homeless."

It took several minutes for her tiny 'whore brain' to absorb the information it had been given.

"So where's this 'brother' of yours?"

I replied honestly. "I don't know."

The pink one stood there laughing hysterically when the blond said her final word on the matter.

"So you must really fail at protecting him, just like your life is a failure."

She had hardly made her decision to leave before I stepped forward and slapped her. I grabbed at her hair, and hit her once, hard, in the nose before the other people around swarmed in and a few took hold of my arms, restraining me from attacking her.

A few security guards rushed in as well, and then I knew I was screwed.

It was only an hour later I was sitting at a table opposite a rent-a-cop in the security office of the mall. I crossed one leg over the other and crossed my arms, looking defensively at the wall.

"Could I ask your name, please?" he asked.

"My name is Page. My last name is Lapinski."

"Alright then Page, I need to ask you a few more questions."

I turned my eyes towards the man. "Fine."

"I'll start very simply. Did you or did you not attack Ms. Carnell today?"

He was referring to Sophie Carnell, the slut that said I couldn't protect Lawliet.

"…"

"Please answer the question."

"She started it." I mumbled, just like a little kid.

"She may have started it, Ms. Lapinski, but she now has a broken nose and bruises to press charges with." The rent-a-cop leaned onto the table and I glared at him.

"She provoked the attack." I began. "Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Not in court." He paused before continuing his line of questions. "Page, are you currently under the influence of any kind of narcotics?"

"I'm disgusted you would even think of that." I got ready to stand up and leave if need be.

"Then I would love to know what Sophie said that could have made you hit her so hard."

"She said I was a failure at protecting my brother. I can't stand for that. I spent the past four years in this city because I was protecting him. Things have happened that I pretended never did for his sake. I-"

"That's quite enough." He said. "If you don't know where your brother is, then Ms. Carnell was right. You'll have to go to the police station with an officer from the police department and deal with any charges being pressed."

"Wait!" I stood up, slamming a hand on the cheap table. "I'm being arrested?!"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"N-" my head spun in every direction as I searched for the door. I started towards it. "No! I have to find Wammy! I have to find Lawliet!" Tears welled up in my eyes.

As I grasped the door handle, the rent-a-cop called out something about how I wasn't allowed to leave without an officer. Either I couldn't hear it well or I wasn't listening. The door seemed incredibly heavy to me, and time had seemed to slow. I was going to run for it, I was going to find Lawliet if it killed me.

I ran from the room to the nearest flight of stairs, which I took three at a time. As I was just touching on the door to the main parking lot, I bumped hard into someone. It was, unfortunately, a police officer. Turning to run in the opposite direction, I found the same, annoying rent-a-cop.

I took two steps, backing away. "No…" I muttered. I fell into the same odd position Lawliet had always sat in, and my wide eyes locked onto the floor tile. "No no no no no…" I pulled my hands up to the back of my head, and kept crying.

"Come on, Ms. Lapinski," I heard the rent-a-cop say. "This is just embarrassing for you."

"I can't…" I sobbed. "I have to find him."

The 'real' police officer grabbed one of my arms, helping me up, and led me towards to door of the mall. Before I even knew it, I was in the back of a police car, wiping my tears with the back of my hand.

"What happened…?" I asked out loud. This startled the female officer sitting in the passenger seat.

"I think you broke some girl's nose." She replied. "And she also says you were really high. We don't have a choice. When someone reports something like that, we have to bring them in, no matter what other evidence there is."

"I know that… I just… I'm not high! I swear! I've never done drugs in my life!" I cried. "Never! She was insulting me about everything! I haven't done anything wrong! I was just trying to protect Lawliet!"

She seemed interested. With a small smile, she replied in a comforting voice. "I know. Girls like that Carnell lie. You probably looked at her wrong. Just explain everything at the station and you should be out by tomorrow."

I was out by the next day, but only because I took several drug tests and had no money to be sued for or to pay fines. When I found my way back to the shop, I found the sad coincidence of the fact that everything was gone. I had been robbed again.

Now depressed and upset, I wandered around back to the music store, and sat in my old home. It wasn't really worth going into the store. I still couldn't afford that Queen CD I saw years ago. A bunch of music still wasn't going to help me.

I sat that night behind the shop, with no house, but still a home.

"Hey mom." I said, looking at the stars. "Look, I know everybody thought I was high the other day, but right now I'm just being an idiot and talking to you. I didn't smoke anything. I just miss you, so I figured, what the hell, I'll talk to you, y'know?"

My guess was, she didn't care.

"Well, I lost Lawliet. I'm sorry. I'm his older sibling and I should have been better, but I thought it would be best. I'm just hating it now though. I want my little bro back. It doesn't matter though. I can't be half the parent you were to him.

"I need a job, too. I'll find something. But… Mom? I want you to keep an eye on Lawliet for me, but also I need you to forgive me for the other day, and last July, and anything else that may happen. It's hard like this. I have to do what I have to do.

"But of course I'm talking to nobody." I laughed. "Good night, mom. I miss you."

I did get a good night's sleep that night.

(#0#)

"You can't just evict me! I pay rent!" I yelled at Mrs. Cheris, AKA, Landlady from Hell. At the age of seventeen, I got an apartment… problem: I couldn't get a job I could make work.

"Not on time you don't!" She screeched in reply, throwing a bag of my stuff at me from inside my unit. "So get out! I warned you!"

"No you didn't!" I was ashamed of myself. Wow. Twenty and uneducated. I felt bad about that little fact that kept my resume pathetic. "You even said I could have a break for a few months because I need to find a job!"

"You haven't gotten a job!"

"I'm working on it, Mrs. Cheris. What do you want me to do? Be a whore?"

"If it pays your rent, then fine!" She shouted. "Call me when you found somewhere else to live and I'll give you your furniture!"

"Whatever." I muttered, picking up my bag. It didn't matter. Next week she would take pity on me and give me the key back. She evicted me every few months, then decided she was being to harsh on a pour soul like me.

It was annoying… really. I had a friend I often stayed with, but she was getting sick of me, and not much else was going on.

I got on the bus and rode to my friend's house, barging in the door without a second thought.

"Way to knock," Christine said, putting down her study book.

"Thanks." I replied. "How's the whole University thing going for you?"

"Good…" She said in her heavy English accent, shortly before she noticed my duffel bag. "So it's that time again."

"Yup. The old bag kicked me out again. I can't find a friggen job." The language picked up from the street had begun to show its mark in later years.

"I found an interesting ad in the paper you may like."

I stopped and walked over to the table to see the ad in the classifieds circled in red marker. "Christine! You didn't have to do that!"

"It was good fun." She smiled. "Just read it."

So I did.

_Wammy's House Orphanage_

_An orphanage for gifted children_

_Help Wanted_

Then it listed a telephone number.

"Isn't that just the weirdest ad you've ever seen?" Christine said with a giggle.

I paused for several minutes.

"Page, hello? Earth to Page! Are you even in there?"

"I'm going to apply." I said at last.

"Why? I showed it to you because it was funny."

"Lawliet could be there."

"…Well…"

"Christine, I'm applying. I haven't seen my brother in years. I'm not giving up the chance."

"Well then, the phone's on the table."

And I did apply.

--

Wow, going strong until that police car showed up.

HELP, POLICE! SOMEONE STOLE THE GOOD IN MY STORY!!

Review none the less.


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